'Dramatically more powerful': world's first battery-electric freight train unveiled

[Uncle Joe]

The world’s first battery-electric freight train was unveiled at an event in Pittsburgh on Friday, amid a fresh attempt by some US lawmakers to slash carbon emissions from rail transport in order to address the climate crisis.

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The new train, known as the FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive, underwent successful trials in California earlier this year where it was found to have cut fuel consumption by 11%, which meant reducing the amount of diesel used by 6,200 gallons. Wabtec said that the next iteration of the locomotive, to be rolled out within two years, will be able to cut the consumption of diesel, the fossil fuel traditionally used in freight rail, by nearly a third.

The company also said emissions will be entirely eliminated through the development of accompanying hydrogen fuel cells. If the technology is used worldwide, Wabtec estimates planet-heating emissions could be cut by 300m tons a year, with nearly half of those saved emissions occurring in the US.

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Wabtec is betting the FLXdrive will change this dynamic. Housed in a traditional locomotive body, the new battery system drives the axles of the train and uses the kinetic energy of the train’s braking to recharge, meaning the batteries should never run out. The newest version will be a 7-megawatt battery locomotive, which is “100 times the power and energy within a Tesla – it’s dramatically more powerful”, said Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec’s chief technology officer.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/16/battery-electric-freight-train-wabtec-rail-transport-emissions#climate

[elleng]

1. You beat me!

[Uncle Joe]

4. ...

[ColinC]

2. Like a life sized model train!

[modrepub]

3. Most Diesel Trains

are just large electric generating turbines to begin with. Efficiency is a great way to cut fossil fuel emissions but not necessarily something the fossil fuel industry exactly wants; it's not productive in their minds to have their consumers use less of their product.

Good news but trains generally have very long life spans. These new more fuel efficient ones would have to be dramatically cheaper to run to cause fleet turnover to rapidly replace older engines without government incentives.